ethanol and boat motors

[fakeplay]

Anyone hear anything about using gas with ethanol ? I just read an artical on smalloutboardmotors.com that the ethanol is blowing engines up because it contains a lot of water and the ethanol eats away plastic gas tanks and rubber. Where can you buy gas with no ethanol or get some kind of additive ? Any thoughts on this ?
thanks

 

[capt sam]

Re: ethanol and boat motors

You usually can buy ethanol free gas at marinas or fuel docks, in fla anyways. there's several good additives out there, some folks think they're snake oil, I've had no issues since I started using Startron.....

 

[boat1010]

Re: ethanol and boat motors

I don't know about eating anything up but the last boat I had was fuel injected and if I ran ethanol in it the dang thing would vapor lock every time. It would start great the first thing but stop to pick up a skier and it would not start. I would have to loosen the the fuel rack and bleed off the air pressure before it would restart. I live in Nebraska and most of our gas stations still have non ethanol for now.

 

[sschefer]

Re: ethanol and boat motors

Older boats and motors can have problems with it in the areas of fuel and vent line (hoses), etc. All currently sold Coast Guard approved fuel and vent lines are ethanol rated.

The part about the water is true but you just need a ethanol rated fuel/water separator (Racor makes one) to over come that part.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: ethanol and boat motors

This topic has been beat to death and I for one am very tired of the continual questions. Use the search function and you will find both sides of the debate well covered. We've used E-10 in Minnesota since 1997 and our engines are running just fine. Yes -- older motors should have the fuel lines and other rubber parts replaced with ethanol tolerant varieties. Replace the fuel filters and go boating. Ethanol does not contain water! The issue is it absorbs water over a long period. Hence the recommendation that you install a water separating fuel filter. Even that is not necessary if you burn lots of fuel and the boat does not sit for long periods of time. As for blowing up engines -- ethanol can be blamed for that only if you ignore the fact that it is an excellent fuel system cleaner. A dirty fuel system will be cleaned up and the gunk deposited in the fuel filter, carbs, and EFI systems causing the engine to run poorly or very lean. Ignore that symptom (whether or not you run E-10) and it will damage an engine. But then it probably was due to happen even if E-10 was not being used. Dirty fuel systems are dirty fuel systems.

 

[sschefer]

Re: ethanol and boat motors

This topic has been beat to death and I for one am very tired of the continual questions. Use the search function and you will find both sides of the debate well covered. We've used E-10 in Minnesota since 1997 and our engines are running just fine. Yes -- older motors should have the fuel lines and other rubber parts replaced with ethanol tolerant varieties. Replace the fuel filters and go boating. Ethanol does not contain water! The issue is it absorbs water over a long period. Hence the recommendation that you install a water separating fuel filter. Even that is not necessary if you burn lots of fuel and the boat does not sit for long periods of time. As for blowing up engines -- ethanol can be blamed for that only if you ignore the fact that it is an excellent fuel system cleaner. A dirty fuel system will be cleaned up and the gunk deposited in the fuel filter, carbs, and EFI systems causing the engine to run poorly or very lean. Ignore that symptom (whether or not you run E-10) and it will damage an engine. But then it probably was due to happen even if E-10 was not being used. Dirty fuel systems are dirty fuel systems.

Yep, I was just trying to keep it brief and to the point.

 

[CAVU V]

Re: ethanol and boat motors

Interesting reading

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/ne...74F1E7906952BA9A862575890010A097?OpenDocument

 

[pinkham89]

Re: ethanol and boat motors

the ethanol itself isnt the only problem though. when the fuel gets moisture in it from condensation or however, the process of "phase separation" begins where the alcohol sinks to the bottom of the tank and thus is the only thing burned by the engine at start up which makes it run very lean and leads to problems.

 

[sschefer]

Re: ethanol and boat motors

the ethanol itself isnt the only problem though. when the fuel gets moisture in it from condensation or however, the process of "phase separation" begins where the alcohol sinks to the bottom of the tank and thus is the only thing burned by the engine at start up which makes it run very lean and leads to problems.

I've read that also but to date I haven't been able to find any research that supports it. I'd have to classify that as a myth simply because gas and alcohol are both lighter than water so if that was truly a problem the engine would not start at all because all it would ever get would be water.

 

[bob johnson]

Re: ethanol and boat motors

if ethanol absorbs water....what is DRY GAS?

because it is used to treat gas that may have water in it...

and thus make the gas ok to use.

well thats what i have heard... and thought.

I have since had a fuel seperator mounted on the transom to seperate water and fuel...

bob

 

[pinkham89]

Re: ethanol and boat motors

I've read that also but to date I haven't been able to find any research that supports it. I'd have to classify that as a myth simply because gas and alcohol are both lighter than water so if that was truly a problem the engine would not start at all because all it would ever get would be water.

the total "saturation" or water content only needs to be about 10%. so yes, water will sink to the bottom of the tank (as it always does) then the alcohol on top of that, then finally the gasoline. So while your motor isnt sucking just water or alcohol, it IS getting a higher concentration of the alcohol and less gas

 

[CHEVYJEFF]

Re: ethanol and boat motors

here in dallas we have the 10% in our gas and I can tell you that the ethanol make the gas boil in the carb at a lower temp. First start on the lake easy and nice. once hot you can hear the gas gurguling in the float bowls and it floods the engine. The same thing happens in my hod rod. I have to run phenolic spacers to keep the carbs cooler.

 

[AZSenza]

Re: ethanol and boat motors

I live in a smog zone, we use "Reformulated" gas. That scares the heck out of me but I've been here for nearly 10 years and haven't seen mine or anyone elses boats suffer from it. I know this fuel had at least 10% E and who KNOWS what else...

 

[Silvertip]

Re: ethanol and boat motors

There are few places in the country that go through temperature extremes as wide as those in the midwest (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, N. Dakota) and if E-10 was such a problem nobody would be moving at 20 below zero yet our cars start fine at those temps and our boats start fiine at 95 above. Cars running on E-85 have block heaters as at 85% ethanol there is a potential starting issue at extremely cold temps. E-10 simply does not pose a problem here and yes -- we do have 95+ temps in the summer with ungodly high humidity. If you are having fuel percolation problems you should let the engine idle for a couple minutes before shutting down. That allows everything to cool down. Percolation is fuel boiling in the carb. Vapor lock is a different situation. It prevents fuel flow rather than flooding. Our boats sit from late October to March/April with E-10 in the tank but most of have learned years ago that using a fuel stabilizer and running the engine long enough to get it into the fuel system is all that's necessary to bring the boat in the spring and fire it up. Stop the panic already. If you have a boat with a very large fuel tank, use a fuel stabilizer and keep the tank topped off. Add a water separating fuel filter and stop worrying. If you are worrying about E-10, E-15 and E-20 are on the way. Sleep well!!!!! The only time I will say I'm sorry you have to run E-10 fuel is if you have a fiberglass (not plastic) fuel tank.